Banff National Park...a Very Special Place!

Mom says she has hardly seen a place prettier than Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. From the moment we came into town we knew were in for something special...the Canadian Rocky mountains that surround Banff take your breath away! The peaks are much more jagged than US Rockies and since we are seeing them earlier than last year's trip west, the snow peaks are much more vivid!

Our campsite in Banff was right in the National Park with full hookups and a fabulous view of Mount Rundle. The air was crisp, smelled of fresh pine and cedar, and the campground was very quiet and peaceful.  The crowds don't start until July but the weather was just great, about 65 deg, more sun than rain, but always lush! Here are some views from our Tunnel Mountain campground...

And with it staying light until 11:00 at night, we took this picture of Mount Rundle from our campsite about 10:00 p.m. Mount Rundle is one of the iconic mountains in Banff!

Our first day Mom and Da decided to head up to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Mom rread that the lakes were beautiful...I would say drop dead gorgeous is more like it. They had a bit of a cloudy and somewhat  rainy afternoon, but imagine if it had been clear.  The water is such a gorgeous aqua blue, created from Glacier Melt! First are several pictures of their hike in the rain around Lake Louise.

It was amazing to see the thick glacier that is still there in late June

The Hotel at Lake Louise is very fancy, old world Cosmopolitan. Many Asian and Eurpoean visitors at the hotel and lake.

Next Mom and Dad headed up to the smaller Morraine Lake.  The trip up was spectacular as the sun began to come out!

Moraine Lake, although smaller, was just as beautiful.

Leaving the area Mom and Dad ran into their first wildlife and really weren't sure if it was a coyote or wolf. Originally they leaned toward Coyote, but after discussing differences with a Park Ranger they now think he was a Wolf!  They learned at the Banff Museum that wolves have longer legs, wider ears at the base and Cyotes have rings in their fur.

That night we went out in search of more wildlife, we only saw this deer but even better was this beautiful rainbow!

The next morning Mom and Dad headed out in search of wildlife down the Bow Valley Parkway. The parkway is closed from 11pm to 8am so you miss the really good dawn and dusk time. We found the protection of wildlife much more strict than in Yellowstone or Rocky Mount.  Here, pathways and roads are regularly closed for bear. At first I thought it was for the people, but even cars were not allowed to protect the bears.  It was mating season, hence the careful watch!

Mom was so excited, they hit paydirt right away, with the big enchilada...a huge grizzly at 8:30 in the morning who crossed on the road right in front of their car.  See his distinctive bump on his back! They watched him munching berries and leaves on the side of the road 5 ft from their car!

Next Mom and Dad went on a hike to Johnston Falls, both the lower and upper falls. The lower falls was a pretty easy hike and the upper, not much worse, just a bit of elevation. Most of the walk was on a boardwalk out over the falls so it was really pretty.

You'll notice Dad had on Va Tech clothes...once again small world, they met two folks from Richmond, Va, at the falls, first Virginians we have seen!  The upper falls were just as spectacular as the lower...

On the way back they stopped several places along the Bow Valley Parkway, pretty scenery, but no more wildlife!

The next day we had rain in the morning so Mom and Dad decided to hit downtown. They went to two museums, one on the Park animals and one on the history of the area. neither was great, but good rain morning activities.  By afternoon, the sun was out again! Downtown is so much bigger than we anticipated, lots of cute lodges, shops, restaurants, like a large ski town!

Next Mom and Dad went over to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, built by William Van Horne, VP of the Canadian Pacfific Railroad to encourage customers to travel the railroad.  It is one of the most opulent mountain resort hotels in the world! In 1888 it was the largest hotel in the world with 220 rooms and by 1911 it had 22,000 guests.

That evening we went in search of wildlife.  dusk is so late we had to go out about 9p.m.  we found a couple of black bear friends although the pics aren't great as they were a ways away. One of them had some type of molting disease.

The next morning we went out in search of more wildlife.  first we found a big ol' moose right outside the campground. These pictures are all with the small camera, we do have some better ones with the big camera but with limited wifi Mom hasnt transferred to our IPAD.

next up was another black bear and some deer. we found him off of Lake Minniwanka, the biggest lake in Banff.

Mom and Dad's final hike in the park was right from our campsite to the Hoodoos, rock formations formed from the glaciers years ago.

They returned to find me, their little man, patiently waiting for Mom and Dad!

Although we loved staying here, it was hard to get time in the National Park so we had to move our campsite 20 mi down the road to Canmore. our next post will be about our next three days visiting some other parks in the area. we could easily stay here a month, so much to see...and maybe in a month Mom would get her fill of bears!